TY - JOUR
T1 - Productive consumption in the class-mediated construction of domestic masculinity
T2 - Do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement in men’s identity work
AU - Moisio, Risto
AU - Arnould, Eric J.
AU - Gentry, James W.
PY - 2013/8
Y1 - 2013/8
N2 - In the context of do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement, this article extends theorizing on productive consumption, domestic masculinity, and social class. Based on interviews with informants varying in cultural capital endowments, the findings reveal that productive consumption shapes domestic masculinity in relation to class-mediated identity conflicts and ideals. Among high-cultural-capital (HCC) informants, DIY home improvement counters the burdens of knowledge work. The suburban home materializes as a leisurely venue for productive consumption where HCC informants fashion themselves as suburban-craftsmen involved in autotherapeutic labor. Low-cultural-capital (LCC) informants' involvement in DIY home improvement is animated by a different identity conflict and identity ideal. Due to limits on fulfilling normative expectations for economic provisioning, LCC informants liken home to a workplace. Through productive consumption at home, LCC informants enact an identity ideal of family-handyman, thus fashioning themselves as rightful, masculine family stewards.
AB - In the context of do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement, this article extends theorizing on productive consumption, domestic masculinity, and social class. Based on interviews with informants varying in cultural capital endowments, the findings reveal that productive consumption shapes domestic masculinity in relation to class-mediated identity conflicts and ideals. Among high-cultural-capital (HCC) informants, DIY home improvement counters the burdens of knowledge work. The suburban home materializes as a leisurely venue for productive consumption where HCC informants fashion themselves as suburban-craftsmen involved in autotherapeutic labor. Low-cultural-capital (LCC) informants' involvement in DIY home improvement is animated by a different identity conflict and identity ideal. Due to limits on fulfilling normative expectations for economic provisioning, LCC informants liken home to a workplace. Through productive consumption at home, LCC informants enact an identity ideal of family-handyman, thus fashioning themselves as rightful, masculine family stewards.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880111421&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/670238
U2 - 10.1086/670238
DO - 10.1086/670238
M3 - Article
SN - 0093-5301
VL - 40
SP - 298
EP - 316
JO - Journal of Consumer Research
JF - Journal of Consumer Research
IS - 2
ER -